


the midnight diner // svt

by justpig



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Restaurant, F/M, M/M, Oneshot Series, i'll add more later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-10
Updated: 2017-09-26
Packaged: 2018-12-13 19:25:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11766729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justpig/pseuds/justpig
Summary: eating and relaxing at the darkest hours - what more could you want?[based off of the midnight diner tv show - i do not own this idea!]© justpig | 2017





	1. intro // the menu

on the corner of a quaint, quiet street stands a building.

there are hardly any lights aside from the single glowing lantern dangling from a hook fixated next to the door, and no particular decoration. had it not been for the sign clearly stating that they were a diner willing to cater into the darkest hours, so many more people might have just walked straight past.

yes, the midnight diner. although not necessarily one of the city’s most prestigious restaurants - after all, majority of the city’s populus were clueless that the restaurant even existed - anyone who had went there would strongly recommend to do so.

but what really makes it so special is the overall concept; with no menu, you have an infinite amount of possibilities to order, and as the chefs prepare the dish, you can ultimately just let out your feelings. like a home, it remains a safe haven that anyone can turn to.

welcome to the midnight diner.

\-- ~ --


	2. one // bukeoguk

it had been two months since jeon wonwoo discovered the midnight diner.

it had been completely by accident; that night wonwoo had somehow ended up attending one of the big college parties happening that weekend and got a terrible hangover. as he stumbled down the road, he groaned, regretting ever stepping into that chaos.

“water. i need water.”

upon surveying the area and realizing that he was completely lost and had no idea where he was, wonwoo pretty much gave up hope. until he somehow found himself in front of a sign saying, 

[the midnight diner. open everyday, 11 pm - 7 am.]

wonwoo didn’t have a watch, but he was well aware that it was currently one in the morning. practically sobbing in relief, he reasoned that if they were a diner, they were bound to have water - if not, tough luck. at least he’d have a place to sit without being labelled homeless.

stumbling in, wonwoo was duly aware of how quiet and serene the place was. wonwoo liked those kinds of places. unfortunately, they were becoming more scarce as the days passed; it was almost like an endangered species that wonwoo had a strange desire to protect.

“hello! what can i get for you tonight?”

wonwoo had never expected someone to sound so cheerful at freaking one in the morning, although he supposed it was for business. he also hadn’t expected to come face-to-face with someone so handsome.

“uh, is water an option?”

“bottled water, sparkling water, boiled water, we’ve got you covered.”

“bottled water is fine.” shuddering as his headache became more intense, wonwoo frowned as the boy seemed to realize something and quickly left, immediately returning with a bottle of water.

“thanks,” wonwoo mumbled. “do you mind if i - uh - stay here for a while?”

the boy snickered. “as long as you don’t stay past seven and don’t bother other customers, we honestly can’t do much about it.”

“o-okay.”

after the boy left, wonwoo glanced around, only just now taking in the fact that there were a couple other people dining on various foods. saying he was surprised was an understatement - wonwoo had doubted that so many people would come to eat food at one in the morning - but he supposed that everyone had their reasons.

after all, wonwoo grimaced as he reminisced the loud music and the colourful lights from the party, i just returned from a college party.

he didn't really care though. he had no reason to judge people with presumably better excuses for their current common situation. 

until one of them decided to approach him. 

“hi! the name’s seungkwan. you are?”

blinking a few times before registering what the chubby-cheeked boy had just told him, wonwoo stuttered out a quick, “y-yeah, nice to meet you, seungkwan. i'm - i'm wonwoo.”

after exchanging a quick handshake, seungkwan shot him another question. “it's your first time here, i suppose?”

wonwoo nodded silently. please go away. 

“ah! you should come here often, it's a great place. might have to sacrifice your sleep, but it's all worth it - there’s nowhere else you’d rather be.”

yes, i am aware, now please leave me in solitude. 

drumming his fingers against the restaurant’s counter in nervousness, wonwoo was  
relieved when who he assumed to be seungkwan’s friend came in saying, “hey, stop asking him so many questions. you're making the guy nervous.”

“his name is wonwoo,” seungkwan replied cooly. 

the boy sighed. wonwoo noticed that he looked different, mixed, he decided. with his handsome features that definitely weren’t purely korean, wonwoo couldn’t help but feel a bit jealous. “sorry, he’s a bit of a chatterbox. wonwoo, huh? i’m hansol - or vernon, any of them works.”

“he prefers hansol. he just never says that to anyone,” seungkwan informed him. hansol shot him a glare.

after an awkward silence, wonwoo realized that neither of the boys seemed to have the intention to actually leave him alone, so he tentatively opened his mouth and asked, “are you both regulars?”

they seemed a bit surprised. wonwoo wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not. “oh! oh, yeah. actually, we live just across the street, so we’ve been coming here pretty much since it opened, so around two years.” seungkwan responded.

wonwoo frowned. both seemed to be around 19 years old, which meant that two years ago they’d be roughly 17 years old. curious as to why they were already living across the street at the age of 17, wonwoo was tempted to ask, but he decided not to for the sake of not embarrassing himself.

as he rested his head on the counter, he was startled when he noticed that seungkwan was staring at him intently. “your cheeks are red,” he stated. “partying?”

wonwoo’s cheeks flushed (although he doubted anyone would notice considering he’d had around 16 shots that night). “college.”

thankfully, seungkwan seemed to understand and didn’t ask any further.

“you know, thinking about it now… your name sounds kind of familiar,” hansol mused.

wonwoo raised his eyebrows. jeon wonwoo - familiar? hansol had probably just heard a name similar to his own.

hansol turned to seungkwan suddenly, eyes wide. “jeon wonwoo! top psychology student in the entire department at university!”

oh. wonwoo tried to hide a smile that was creeping up on his face. i guess that’s okay too.

seungkwan’s eyes widened to a similar degree as hansol’s. wonwoo was surprised at how in awe they were - he didn’t think any of them were in the psychology department considering he knew pretty much everyone who was there - but he soaked up the compliments nonetheless. although having a decent reputation, he had never really been recognized outside of campus, and it made him happy in a way.

as he was answering the consistent questions that came up at a rapid fire pace, wonwoo was cut short when a bowl was slided in front of him. “what in the world...?”

“ah! smart.” seungkwan grinned at the boy from before who had gotten wonwoo the water. “bukeoguk - the korean hangover cure.”

wonwoo had never heard of this dish, but at this point he wished he had. “th-thank you.” face burning, he picked up the spoon provided and quietly ate while listening to seungkwan converse with the waiter.

“when’d you learn how to make it?” seungkwan whined. “the last time i had a hangover you didn’t make this for me.”

“i didn’t do this, sorry. soups and stuff are all seokmin’s doing. it’s not my problem that he wasn’t there when you came running.’

grumbling, seungkwan muttered something under his breath (was that something about kimbap?) before calling for another waiter by the name of ‘jun’ to get him an iced coke from the fridge.

“so mingyu, how was your exam?”

mingyu?

“oh my god, you have no idea it was literally the most stressful thing i’ve had to do in years like who even has to act a psychotic babysitter trying to kidnap a stuffed doll in the middle of the afternoon?”

wonwoo nearly choked on his soup, causing seungkwan to snicker into his coke that jun had dropped off seconds ago. 

“sorry.” embarrassed, wonwoo looked around for some kind of napkin but came up empty, much to his disappointment. he resided with using his hoodie as a cloth (something he was more or less unwilling to do since he loved the hoodie so much) instead.

“ah, sorry.” looking up, wonwoo realized that mingyu looked embarrassed, if anything. why in the world would he be embarrassed? “i sneeze a lot so i may or may not have used up all the tissues… i was supposed to refill our supply yesterday but then again, i had my exam which is probably more of a priority than this place, unfortunately.”

seungkwan tsked. “customers should always be a priority, mingyu.”

“yeah sure, whatever.” he threw the cloth at seungkwan’s face before jogging to the back of the store.

wonwoo stared after him before seungkwan's voice cut into his thoughts.

“hey.”

jabbing wonwoo a few times to get his attention, seungkwan wiggled his eyebrows. “you’re so whipped for him it’s crazy.”

“what?” wonwoo exclaimed. “i - i’m not - why would i be - “

seungkwan hummed. “sure. of course not. i’m being silly, ignore me.”

maybe the wonwoo at that time didn’t know yet, but looking back on it now, an amused smile on his face as he gripped mingyu’s hand while strolling through the mall, he realized that he really was whipped all this time.

\--~--

needless to say, bukeoguk became one of wonwoo’s favourite dishes.

because of this, mingyu had attempted to learn the recipe from seokmin, but when you’ve got people like seungkwan randomly switching the salt and sugar as a dare from hansol, wonwoo had decided that he would need some time before he could trust mingyu to make it again.

“i can’t believe you didn’t even taste it yourself before giving it to me.” downing a few cups of water after the burst of sugar that he usually wouldn’t mind but definitely wasn’t particularly happy with this time, wonwoo grumbled at mingyu. “you overestimate your cooking skills.”

“hey!” pouting upon hearing his boyfriend’s complaint, mingyu flicked wonwoo’s forehead. “are you saying i have bad cooking skills?”

“i never said that,” wonwoo responded immediately. “i’m just saying, you overestimate them.”

“please take your pda somewhere else, thank you very much,” a familiar voice piped up after the sound of bells signifying another customer.

wonwoo and mingyu turned to the source of the sound and came eye-to-eye with a monolid boy with raven-black hair. wonwoo immediately lit up. “soonyoung?”

mingyu’’s eyebrows raised. “you two know each other?”

wonwoo returned the expression. “you know him too?”

“what did you expect? i’m pretty popular here.” winking (but failing), soonyoung took a seat next to wonwoo. “didn’t know you came here, wonwoo.”

“i could say the same for you.”

“i’m still confused as to how you two know each other.” mingyu frowned.

“childhood friends don’t forget each other so easily, mingyu,” soonyoung shook his head in a disappointed manner. then he slapped wonwoo. “also i can’t believe you’ve never mentioned me to him? i thought you were my best friend.”

“just because you’re my best friend doesn’t mean i have to mention you to everyone i meet.” wonwoo rolled his eyes, clearly exasperated.

“yeah, but he’s your boyfriend.”

wonwoo flinched. “how did you - ”

“i have my sources.” flashing a wicked grin that wonwoo hoped he would never have to see again sometime in the near future, soonyoung then called for chan to get him ramen.

sighing, wonwoo turned to mingyu, who seemed just as done with the boy as he was, and the two of them made eye contact, a million things passing between them at the same time, yet seemingly none at all. bursting into a fit of giggles, wonwoo realized that seungkwan really was right - there was nowhere else he’d rather be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i didn't edit this so excuse any errors oOPS


	3. two // jajangmyun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ship: junhao ft. soonhoon

to say that it took a while for minghao to get used to korea was an understatement. it had taken him months - and even now, three years later, he still had pangs of doubt asking himself if he made the right decision coming to this foreign country.

not that he disliked korea or dancing (which was his current major that his parents seemed convinced he would never find a good career with, but they relented after his constant begging and threatening), it’s just that he missed home. when he had first arrived, he would randomly have a quiet breakdown as he realized just how alone he was.

and of course, if you’re going to miss home, you’re going to miss the food.

jajangmyun. he hadn’t known that the chinese dish was actually so popular in korea, but he was happy once he knew the fact. it made him feel a little closer to his home in china. although he himself had never really learned how to make the black bean noodles, he had eaten them pretty often as a child as they were more simple to make in comparison to some other foods his parents would cook up.

but if you wanted an honest opinion from him? he’d probably say - in a completely shameless, expert diss - that the jajangmyun in seoul was pretty bad. and in all honesty, all the places he had tried kind of ruined the dish for him. from then on, he had pretty much went on a no jajangmyun-policy, having just given up hope. 

given up hope, that is, until soonyoung managed to somehow convince minghao to come with him to a small restaurant at 3 am.

minghao, miraculously, hadn’t fallen asleep yet at that time. despite his insistence to finish the choreography project they had been tasked with, he usually fell asleep unwillingly by then, no matter how hard he wanted to stay awake. (‘the body’s natural response’, as his friend wonwoo liked to quote).

anyways, he had been about to drift off at that ungodly hour after perfecting a particularly difficult part in his choreography when his phone buzzed with a notification - from soonyoung, no less; minghao suspected that he was probably working on some kind of physically enduring project of his own as he was studying kinesiology at the pledis campus.

[soon-hyung: do you have time right now]

[me: yes?

what for]

[soon-hyung: great!

i’m gonna take you out for some early-morning food bc im hungry and dont wanna leave the house alnone]

[me: um ok then

wha t time]

[soon-hyung: five minutes. already on my way~]

minghao figured that a nice meal would be beneficial considering his excessive lack of proper nutrition these past few days, so he wasted no time in getting ready - getting ready meaning throwing on a random sweater he’d found on the ground and stuffing his wallet in his pocket before heading out of his shared apartment (which wasn’t any difficult process as minghao was aware of how heavy his friend sicheng slept) to wait for soonyoung’s car to arrive.

as he had promised, soonyoung arrived pretty much exactly five minutes after he had sent the last message. no big surprise since soonyoung lived roughly three blocks away, in a notably more popular apartment block. “wassup?” soonyoung asked, flashing a smile that minghao couldn’t help but reflect, even with his currently exhausted state.

“food at three am? really?” minghao replied as he hopped into the passenger seat.

soonyoung shrugged, saying, “why not?” before pulling out of the loading zone. “and before you ask me if we’re going to mcdonalds or some shit like that - i mean, of course mcdonalds is great - we’re not.”

minghao raised his eyebrows. “what other place would be open at this time of day?”

soonyoung smirked before passing him one of those cards that businessmen always carried around. “ever heard of the midnight diner?”

\--~--

“welcome - oh, it’s just you.”

soonyoung rolled his eyes. “you could at least try to be more enthusiastic, jihoon.”

the boy - jihoon, wasn’t it? - only rolled his eyes in response before turning to minghao. “so this is the guy you ordered food for twelve hours ago while i was in a lecture?”

minghao was unsure if he was to feel guilty or laugh after hearing jihoon say this. he looked over at soonyoung for confirmation; the embarrassed flush of his cheeks and the sheepish grin plastered onto his face was enough to prove jihoon correct.

“at least i bring in half the customers that actually come here on a daily - nightly? - basis,” soonyoung retorted as he and minghao took a seat at the counter. “anyways, is the dish done?”

“almost,” jihoon promised. “for whatever reason jun arrived two hours late because he was ‘buying ingredients’. he should be coming with it soon though -”

as if he was summoned, a different boy immediately swooped in. to say minghao was startled was an understatement; despite his usually calm, confident manner when it came to haunted houses, he admitted that the boy’s descent was unexpected. plus, the eerie shadows that the early morning offered were not of much assistance.

“you called?” jun said, giving the three of them a lopsided grin as he placed a steaming dish of jajangmyun in front of soonyoung, followed by another one in front of minghao. “two plates of jajangmyun, at your service.”

as jihoon was snickering in the background about jun’s choice of words (‘‘at your service’? does that even make sense?’) minghao raised his eyebrows at soonyoung. being one of his only friends in korea, minghao was fairly sure that soonyoung was aware of his no-jajangmyun policy. soonyoung only gave him a strangely infuriating head tilt and smile before digging into his own plate.

as much as he didn’t want to eat it, he eventually picked up the chopsticks that had been provided, figuring it would be pretty rude if he refused the dish when a) soonyoung had went out of his way to order it, at the same time disturbing jihoon’s lecture and b) the chef was literally towering over him, and even though jun appeared to be conversing with jihoon, minghao had caught the boy’s occasional glances in their directions.

so he reluctantly shoved a bite into his mouth.

as his taste buds actually recognized the fact that yes, this is the taste from china, minghao was duly aware of how soonyoung’s jaw actually dropped - along with his chopsticks, which usually would’ve made minghao immediately pick them up, but he was too immersed in the black bean noodles to bother caring.

it felt like that moment in the commercial when the lead eats the food and everything is quiet. except this wasn’t a commercial. looking back on it, minghao wasn’t sure if this was a good thing or a bad thing.

until minghao heard: “i thought you said he wouldn’t eat it?”

“i didn’t think he would…” soonyoung gave a smile that made minghao start to worry. “...oops.”

“‘oops’?” minghao questioned after finishing his mouthful. “...what’d you do.”

soonyoung opened his mouth to offer what minghao was sure would be some kind of stupid excuse when jun interrupted, immediately ripping the bowl and chopstick out of his hands. “soonyoung bet us that you wouldn’t eat it so he dared us to put soap in there.”

it took a couple of seconds for minghao to digest the information - and, likely, let his stomach digest the soap - before gaping at his friend. “what? soonyoung!”

at this point, soonyoung was pretty much on his hands and knees, at the same time laughing and crying. “i’m - i’m so sorry, minghao, i was trying to prove to jun that i knew a chinese person who refused to eat chinese food - i totally didn’t expect you to eat it, i -”

“don’t throw me under the bus!” jun exclaimed. in the time that soonyoung had been apologizing, it appeared that jun had circled around the counter to come face the boys, at the same time dropping off the ‘poisoned’ noodles. “that dare was completely his idea, i had no contribution in it,” jun promised to minghao, raising his hands in a surrendering position.

as much as he wanted to get mad, minghao found he really couldn’t. the situation was just a silly gag and he doubted he would suffer from any serious condition with a single bite of soap (besides, it wasn’t the first time he’d been forced to digest the cleanser). instead, he shook his head in mock disbelief at soonyoung before turning to jun, who looked completely sincere in his apology. “nah, it’s okay, i know soonyoung well enough to understand that this kind of idea would totally be his own idea.”

jun let out a small breath of relief. “i’m- i’m really sorry though. maybe if you come tomorrow, i’ll make you an official, no-soap version? i would now, but i think you should get some rest. eye bags don’t lie.”

minghao flushed. were his eye bags that evident? he’d have to start tending to his skin more often. “sure. i’m kind of amazed to be honest, even with soap it was… really good.”

jun shrugged. “i mean, i am from china, so it’s not much of a surprise.”

maybe it was because he was so tired but it wasn’t until now that minghao noticed the boy’s accent. it was similar to that of his own, yet with it’s own unique trait. he smiled, promising to himself that it wouldn’t be only tomorrow that he’d come.

“sure. i’d like that.”

jun’s face immediately lit up after hearing minghao’s response. “great! i won’t be late this time, i promise,” he said, directing the last part at jihoon, who had been watching the whole interaction with a smile on his face.

jihoon shrugged. “it’s your own date, i have no business with it.”

then he left, leaving two embarrassed boys and a very awkward soonyoung. (after hearing jihoon’s departure, soonyoung had quickly got up and rushed to the back to escape the currently unfolding scene).

 

“hey!” jun called after jihoon and soonyoung, only sighing when there was no response. he turned back to minghao, very visibly flustered. “i’m - i’m sorry, jihoon’s just really straightforward and doesn’t usually lie so -”

after hearing that, minghao stifled a laugh through his own embarrassment. “so you’re saying that jihoon wasn’t lying when he said it was a date?”

jun flinched after hearing minghao’s question. “i - i mean, i -” the boy groaned after his failure to speak properly. “if you want it to be a date, i’m - i’m okay with that.”

now it was minghao’s turn to be speechless. “um… i....”

“it’s okay if it’s not a date,” jun immediately added, seemingly getting more confidence after his little slip-up, moving closer to minghao as he spoke. “but i mean, you’re cute, so.”

minghao could feel his cheeks burning to an uncomfortable temperature. he wasn’t quite sure how to respond - why is this guy so handsome oh crap he’s getting closer shit is he gonna - 

the proximity between them so close that minghao could feel jun’s breath on his face, he closed his eyes, not wanting to back away, when jun suddenly stopped to whisper, “i’ve noticed you ever since dance class a couple months ago.”

a couple months ago?

minghao’s eyes widened as he realized - jun was that one guy that had joined his extracurricular dance class for a few days before dropping it, leaving strange rumours to arise about him, but he did remember that the boy in question had executed dance moves so flawlessly that minghao had been captivated enough to stand completely still in the few minutes jun had been asked to show the class his skill.

“it was you?”

“it was me.”

“why’d you leave then? oh my god, did you even hear all the rumours that people started spreading -”

“call it a date and it’s even.”

minghao blinked. “what?”

jun shrugged nonchalantly. he’d backed up a few steps, but minghao was still aware of how close they were. “if tomorrow is a date - i’ll tell you everything.”

minghao rolled his eyes in response. “are you seriously threatening me to go on a date with you?”

jun shrugged again. “it’s your call. do you want to know or not?”

minghao sighed, but stayed silent.

in the few seconds that he contemplated what to say, he could practically feel the previously boastful boy’s confidence crumble away. jun mumbled, “of course, i won’t force you to - love can’t be forced, i understand if you don’t see me that way and all but -”

“what? yes, of course i’ll go on a date with you.” minghao immediately said. “when did i ever say i wouldn’t?”

jun blinked in surprise. “i mean, your silence was kind of a giveaway…”

“god, no! i was just teasing you.” minghao explained.

as the reality of his words sunk in, jun slowly broke into a smile. “so… tomorrow’s a date?”

minghao returned the grin. “it’s whatever you want it to be.”

\--~--

“i ship them already,” soonyoung sighed from behind the two pillars that gave jihoon and soonyoung a peek of the confession scene.

“i noticed,” jihoon deadpanned, referring to the previous few minutes which involved soonyoung screaming and essentially just being a fangirl. “but if you ship them can’t you be - i don’t know - a bit quieter?”

“nope. it’s called shipping for a reason,” soonyoung replied before sighing again.

jihoon rolled his eyes. “you also still owe me for disrupting my lecture and giving me two more pages of work - seriously, you had to interrupt my music composition lecture? i thought you knew my schedule!”

soonyoung shrugged. “i’m sorry, okay? i just forgot. if you want me to make it up to you, i’ll buy you lunch tomorrow at campus.”

“deal.”

“what - i didn’t think you’d actually agree!”


	4. three // mooncake

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ship: jihan  
> ft. day6

jisoo hadn’t really expected anyone to come to the midnight diner during the mid-autumn festival - no one ever did, and he kept on saying this to prevent the others from making too many mooncakes, but did they listen? nope. they never did. 

so now he was just sitting at the counter, enjoying the view outside as he watched numerous mid-autumn festival celebrators do little performances outside; the moonlight the evening offered made the performers appear to glow, a scene that jisoo really wanted to photograph and keep forever.

and of course, he would’ve if it weren’t for jeonghan, who had accidentally dropped his phone on the sidewalk a few days ago after checking the picture of himself that jisoo had taken. (jisoo, being the person he was, had told jeonghan it wasn’t his fault and instead had asked his parents for some money to get a new one since he was pretty much just a broke college student at the moment).

as much as he wanted to ignore their constant banter, jisoo sighed upon catching a few disturbingly angry and emotional sentences - some of which included curse words, making him wince a little. what has this generation come down to…

in a nutshell, as mentioned before, the boys hadn't listened to jisoo’s warnings and produced an incredibly large amount of mooncakes. now - where the mid-autumn festival was nearly over - they had no idea what to do with them. 

“i thought you said you were going to eat this entire section!”

“it was a joke for goodness sake, can’t you even tell apart a joke from reality?”

“i’m sorry, i don’t recall you ever declaring it was a joke.”

“who deliberately states that they just said a joke after they’ve said it?”

“... i mean he’s got a point.”

“annoyed already?”

jisoo jumped, as the last statement was much closer and louder than the other exclamations had been. turning abruptly, he was met by jeonghan, who was leaning on the counter with his trademark teasing grin. “i mean it’s kind of hard not to get annoyed.”

“i’m kind of amazed how such an aesthetic and calm place can be so loud on a daily basis,” jeonghan admitted, gesturing to the back of the diner where the arguments were only getting louder, in no way good for jisoo’s already-starting headache.

jisoo chuckled. “there’s got to be a balance, i guess.”

jeonghan let out a soft laugh in agreement before taking a seat next to jisoo. on instinct, they grabbed each other’s hands and rested their intertwined fingers onto the counter. it was a little tradition of theirs that jisoo had no intention of breaking anytime soon.

jeonghan sighed a little as he rested his chin on his other hand. “it’s a bit of a shame that we didn’t get to celebrate this year.”

jisoo shrugged. “unfortunately, those kinds of things aren’t in our control.” he felt a twinge of guilt for putting all of his focus on his studies (he was currently studying korean literature at pledis) and the restaurant. he wanted to be able to spend more time with jeonghan and felt like he was to be blamed for their lack of interaction sometimes, but jeonghan was relatively understanding - in fact, whenever he had spare time, he’d come down to the diner to be with jisoo.

jeonghan seemed to sense jisoo’s crumbling self-esteem. “how many times do i have to tell you? it’s not your fault, jisoo, you have priorities; we all do.”

jisoo wasn’t quite sure what to reply. shouldn’t you be one of them?

probably in an attempt to cheer up jisoo, jeonghan suddenly asked, “what are we actually going to do with those mooncakes, though? it’s not like we’re going to have to end up throwing them out… right?”

jisoo flinched. he realized that he had let seokmin bring their friends over and make mooncakes - but now it seemed like their effort was in vain, unless they managed to eat all one hundred mooncakes before they expired. even with thirteen boys’ excessive appetite, jisoo was pretty sure there was little chance that all of them would be able to eat seven and a half mooncakes in time.

jisoo, as was the rest of the workers at the midnight diner, hated having to waste food. they’d went through all that effort to prepare a dish only for it not to be eaten in the end? he supposed it was a little pet peeve of his.

“i’m not sure,” he confessed to jeonghan. “i hope not, but from the current situation it looks like we’ll have to… unless someone comes in and buys at least half of the mooncakes away.”

jeonghan chuckled. “i guess. that would need some sort of miracle to happen - the festival is almost over, anyway.”

“under what circumstance would you even need fifty mooncakes?” jisoo mused.

“a giant family reunion?”

“this late at night?”

“...true. what about… making a giant mooncake out of a whole bunch of little mooncakes?” jeonghan suggested, already laughing at his ridiculous thought. (it didn’t help that jisoo was giving him a look of something between disgust, fear and utter confusion).

“what if someone was trying to complete the tallest stack of mooncakes?”

“and you say i’m weird.”

“can you come up with anything better?”

jeonghan tapped his chin, thinking. “well, i guess it could be something practical like an eat-off, kind of like the one that soonyoung and seokmin did a couple weeks ago -”

“ding ding ding!” came a familiar voice, startling both jisoo and jeonghan. whipping his head towards the source of the sound, jisoo nearly choked upon coming face-to-face with his friend jae.

“what are you doing here?” jisoo asked, raising an eyebrow. the last time he and jae had talked was months ago - and jisoo was relatively sure they hadn’t been talking about anything important, as the pair’s conversations normally went (jisoo had a vague memory of ranting with jae about their korean friends because they never understand any english jokes).

“only here to pick up the finest mooncakes, of course.” jae shrugged nonchalantly. “brian and i wanted to have an eat-off, but we weren’t sure where to get that much food, so now we’re also racing each other to find who can get enough food for the competition first. i happened to hear your conversation when i came in and i would very much appreciate if you could give me fifty mooncakes, thank you.”

jisoo gaped, turning to jeonghan who reflected his expression. “o-of course! hold on, i’ll get them for you,” jeonghan said, scrambling to get out of his chair as he rushed to the back of the store to retrieve jae’s mooncakes.

jisoo snickered. “seriously? when aren’t you competing with brian?”

“never,” jae admitted. “although your contribution is appreciated. when i win the ten bucks that we bet on i will be thinking of you.”

jisoo scoffed upon registering his friend’s sarcastic comment. “i might as well not give the mooncakes to you then -”

“no!” jae immediately cut in. “my pride is on the line, goddammit jisoo. fine, you get two bucks.”

he raised an eyebrow. “only two?”

“... four. final offer.”

jisoo supposed that four was the best he was going to get out of jae before responding with, “deal.”

jeonghan appeared then, breathless as he clutched a plastic bag in his right hand, seungkwan trailing behind him (presumably to check that jeonghan wasn’t just randomly taking fifty mooncakes). “here you go.”

“thanks,” jae said, flashing them a smile. turning to jisoo, he gave him a quick nod. “it was nice seeing you again, jisoo. we’ll have to meet up again sometime soon - i’m not seeing you very often these days.”

“maybe because you decided to attend jyp instead of pledis? betrayal much.”

jae laughed. “whatever. i’ll mention you in my next tweet, if you’re so betrayed.”

“your efforts are appreciated but in vain,” jisoo joked. “have a good day, jae.”

“you too.”

~~~

“how come you never told me you were friends with park jaehyung?” seungkwan demanded after the last plate of the remaining mooncakes had been set on the table.

jisoo shrugged. “it didn’t seem like very important information. it’s not like he’s that popular… right?”

the look of disbelief on his friends’ faces told him otherwise. “when was the last time you’ve been on his twitter?” seokmin asked carefully.

“uh… a couple months ago? why?”

“and you’ve never noticed his 394k follower count?”

jisoo pretty much spat out his half-eaten mooncake, much to the amusement and disgust of his friends, followed by their continuous banter after seeing jisoo’s reaction. “excuse me?”

“yeah, he’s pretty much a celebrity!”

“oh my god jisoo, couldn’t you have taken the information in less grossly? you got some mooncake on my shirt that i literally got this morning!”

“do you realize that you’re going to be mentioned in his next post?”

“seriously? don’t forget us when you become famous!”


	5. four // samgyeposal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> some soonhoon to make your day a bit better :D

“class dismissed.”

jihoon had never been the type of person who’d run to the door and get out of the classroom as soon as these words were said - after all, he would be likely to forget something considered he had loads of items on hand all the time - and he had never understood the cliche desire of book or movie characters when they do exactly that. sure, he wasn’t a huge fan of working his ass off everyday just to get validation of his ‘musical genius’ (as his friends put it), but it wasn’t like he absolutely despised school. not even close.

but it was that particular day that jihoon found himself bolting through the door and into the hallway, bulldozing nearly a dozen of his peers. he probably would’ve bulldozed a lot more if he hadn’t spotted a certain raven-haired boy leaning against the wall.

soonyoung raised his eyebrows in confusion upon seeing the younger’s rushed state before showing a look of realization and then giving jihoon a cheeky grin. “ah, excited for lunch, i see?”

jihoon wished he had the ability to control the colour of his face because with the heat that was pulsating from his cheeks he was positive he looked about as red as seungcheol’s iconic tomato hair. “shut up,” he mumbled before continuing down the hallway, desperately trying to ignore the strange looks he received from his classmates.

soonyoung only chuckled as he broke into a jog to catch up with jihoon’s pace. “you don’t have to deny the fact that you’re happy, jihoonie~ and you should feel grateful, i don’t normally take people out for lunch.”

jihoon rolled his eyes. “i never said i wasn’t happy; free food is free food. and why should i feel grateful? you were the one who offered that we go out for lunch in the first place.”

“you got me there.” soonyoung’s grin failed to drop, although jihoon was used to it by now. he was pretty sure soonyoung could drop the deadliest roast and still have a smile on his face.

the two of them let off a strange aura, jihoon realized, after seeing the students either a) make way, b) give them a warm smile, c) ignore them, or d) hesitate before choosing one of the three aforementioned options. at first he had been a bit surprised before i dawned on him that this kind of reaction was perfectly normal. if you were to examine their social lives, soonyoung and jihoon were practically complete opposites - soonyoung was a natural people-pleaser, whereas jihoon preferred spending his weekends indoors (aka trying to stay as far away from other people as possible). soonyoung was practically friends with everyone while jihoon literally only knew twenty individuals (some of which didn’t even attend this college).

and as he was walking, it bothered him more and more: why would soonyoung even hang out with him when he could be so much more popular than he currently was? he’d have more opportunity to socialize with other people if he didn’t take that time to be with jihoon. he’d have more opportunity to dance; even with his current level, jihoon was aware of how soonyoung always strived to improve his skills. he’d have more opportunity to study for his subjects. he’d - 

“oof!”

jihoon hadn’t realized that in the midst of his thinking he’d come to a sudden halt in the hallways, making soonyoung (who was trailing behind the boy and doing cute signs around him that he was sure would mean death if jihoon found out) run straight into his back. it didn’t help that with the height difference jihoon nearly toppled over.

“woah, whatcha thinking about there?” soonyoung laughed as he helped jihoon regain his balance.

jihoon blinked. “thinking about something? how’d you know?”

soonyoung rolled his eyes in mock exasperation. “oh come on, jihoon. we’ve known each other for what - two, three years now? you’ve always got this look on your face when you’re zoning out.” at this, he mimicked the expression in a way that jihoon could only hope was exaggerated. knitting his eyebrows in half-concern and half-surprise, jihoon only gave him a slight head shake before continuing on his way.

“wait, where are we even going?” soonyoung poked the shorter’s back in an attempt to get his attention. upon registering what his best friend had just said, jihoon whirled around in surprise.

“you’re asking me where we’re going? we literally established a few minutes ago that you were the one who offered that we go! you didn’t even plan this out?”

soonyoung jumped back a bit at jihoon’s sudden outburst. jihoon bit his lip, realizing he might have been a bit harsh, before sighing. “never mind. it’s okay, we can go eat at like, mcdonald’s or something.”

he didn’t want to seem too upset but then again, everyone - even himself - acknowledged his terrible acting skills, so it was no surprise when soonyoung looked a bit guilty, saying, “i’m - i’m sorry, i didn’t mean to -” he groaned in frustration, unable to explain himself properly with the slightly evident pout on jihoon’s lips. “look. i said i’d take you out for getting you extra work. we aren’t going to mcdonald’s or anything like that. we’ll just have to eat takeout or something - is that okay with you?”

jihoon was impressed at the boy’s sudden one-eighty (not at all noticing that soonyoung was visibly swayed by his own form of unconscious aegyo) but he wasn’t going to let this opportunity slip through his fingers. after all, he’d just ate mcdonald’s a few days ago, and as much as he enjoyed the fries he was aware that it definitely wasn’t something he should have in his diet on a weekly basis. “uh, yeah? i guess. but where will we get takeout?”

soonyoung grinned. “follow me.”

\--~--

it wasn’t exactly the midnight diner, but jihoon supposed it would do for now.

“‘beyond the scene’? what kind of restaurant name is that?” jihoon raised his eyebrow as he read the blocky lettering that graced the front of the building that soonyoung brought him to.

soonyoung shrugged. “my guess is as good as yours. but their food is decent enough, and so are the workers; i’ve made a couple friends already and i’ve only been here twice!”

“almost as if you don’t make friends as soon as you see someone,” jihoon muttered under his breath.

“what was that?”

“nothing.”

jihoon was pretty sure soonyoung casted him a glare as he walked into the restaurant.

jihoon swore his breath hitched when he scanned the surroundings of the interior. somehow, they’d managed to combine a style of both luxurious yet minimalistic, a combination jihoon would never have thought possible until now. he made a mental note to come here more often.

“beautiful, isn’t it?” soonyoung whispered, seemingly appearing out of nowhere and nearly scaring the living shit out of jihoon. he nodded after recovering from his mini heart attack.

“yeah. i wonder if the midnight diner will ever -”

he was cut off by an enthusiastic voice sounding from their left. “hello! how can i help you today?”  
jihoon remained speechless (as per usual when it came to interaction with strangers) whereas soonyoung’s face immediately lit up, and walked over to the boy, embracing him in a ‘bro-hug’, as jihoon liked to call it. “taehyung! how are you doing?”

“ayyyyee soonyoung! man it’s been forever, you need to come here more often.” the boy - taehyung, jihoon assumed, unless soonyoung gave his friends weird names to remember them by - then turned to jihoon and stuck out his hand. “hi, i’m kim taehyung! and you are…?”

jihoon hesitated a bit before quickly returning the handshake. “jihoon. lee jihoon.”

taehyung’s eyes widened slightly in what seemed like realization. “... oh, you’re the love interest that soonyoung was talking to me about the other day! oh my god, you’re so cute!”

jihoon wasn’t sure if he was to feel flattered at the first bit or angry at that last sentence, but either way his cheeks flushed - again. lately he’d been getting embarrassed multiple times because of the actions of none other than kwon soonyoung.

soonyoung, for once, also seemed speechless. jihoon noted that his cheeks were a similar colour to his red hoodie. “oh my god, what the hell? i never -”

taehyung gave him a look that jihoon interpreted as ‘i dare you to deny it’.

soonyoung ended up just turning around in embarrassment.

“anyways, are you eating in? if so, we’ve got a table for two just over here -”

“oh, no, we’ve got to head back to campus soon, so we’ll just be taking out,” jihoon told him.

“ah, okay! here’s the menu, and i’ll just let you figure out what you want to eat. i’m going to go help some other customers but just ding the bell on the counter and one of our workers will come over and help you.” he flashed a smile that jihoon couldn’t help but reflect before rushing off.

jihoon glanced over at his companion, who was still facing away from him - however, now he was bending over and covering his face. he laughed a little upon seeing the older’s embarrassed tendencies and then kicked his leg. “hey, we’ve got to order.”

“i know.” soonyoung inhaled deeply and then let out a long breath. “i know, i know. order the samgyeopsal - it’s the best, they cut it in store and all that.”

his lack of enthusiasm and the fact that he wasn’t even facing jihoon while talking irked jihoon a little, but he only sighed before ringing the bell and asking a worker by the name of seokjin to get them a medium serving of samgyeopsal.

the atmosphere was strangely awkward. or rather not strangely - taehyung had basically just confessed for soonyoung. and it stayed that way until seokjin returned with the samgyeopsal in a convenient little takeout box for their needs. so when seokjin left, jihoon said, “hey, soonyoung?”

no reply.

“soonyoung.”

still nothing.

“kwon soonyoung.”

“hoshi.”

“hoshi~”

“naega hosh?”

“10 hour 10 minute.”

“this bitch,” he muttered under his breath. taking a deep breath in and out, he then said,

“soonyoung, babe -”

that definitely caught his attention. whipping around and nearly hitting jihoon in the process, soonyoung appeared to have a wild look in his eyes. “hold on, what did you just call me?”

jihoon could feel his cheeks burning. “n-nothing. i just needed your attention, okay? you don’t have to take it seriously.”

jihoon was relieved to see the classic mischievous glint return to soonyoung’s eyes. “you don’t have to. but what if i want to?”

“i -” at this point, jihoon figured that if soonyoung was going to tease him, then he had the right to do the same. “well, i mean of course you’d want to, you fucking see me as a love interest -”

at this soonyoung’s face became troubled again and jihoon immediately started panicking. “uh - wait - no, that’s not what i meant to say, i -”

“it’s okay.” soonyoung stared him dead in the eye, startling jihoon a bit. “but since you already know, i might as well ask you.”

jihoon was still a bit panicked and lightheaded from the past few seconds, so he said in a rather dumb tone, “ask me? ask me what?”

“lee jihoon.” soonyoung stepped closer, making jihoon back up, but soonyoung grabbed his hands to hold him in place. “do you like me?”

jihoon paused. did he like soonyoung? he had never really considered anything more than just a best friend relationship with him - it had always been soonyoung and jihoon, that one odd pair that had stuck with each other since the beginning of university.

… or had he?

he realized that soonyoung was the only person he knew that could do something small and make jihoon blush: tying his shoelaces for him? pink cheeks. teasing him for his height? tomato face. even saying ‘good morning’ had jihoon feeling like a volcano about to erupt.

so… maybe spending more time with him… sure, he’d probably forever be embarrassed, but… maybe it wouldn’t be a bad thing.

actually, it would be a very good thing.

soonyoung seemed to think that jihoon was trying to think of how to reject him, so he dejectedly let go of his hands, and muttered, “i knew it,” before sighing. “i’m - i’m sorry, i understand if you don’t want to be friends with a gay guy and if you don’t see me that way, i just thought i might as well be straightforward with you -”

“what?” alarmed at soonyoung’s sudden reaction, jihoon grabbed his hands ago. “no! no, i do like you, i want to be your boyfriend, i want to be with you.”

it was so fast that soonyoung just stood there, blinking, as he registered what jihoon had just spat out. “you… you like me?”

“yes, you idiot.” jihoon’s face was on fire again, but this time he didn’t care. “i like you.”

soonyoung slowly broke into a grin as he wrapped his arms around jihoon.

as much as he hated skinship, jihoon couldn’t deny that at that moment, everything was perfect.

and it was at this moment that jihoon realized why people left the classroom that fast - if it meant that he could spend more time with this particular person, he was willing to write fifty more sheets of music.

**Author's Note:**

> ayy thanks for reading (idk why people actually read my stories lmao)  
> make sure to tell me what you thought in the comments below! i love reading feedback and getting notifications honestly you don't need to worry about spamming me :D


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